New Faces, New Paths: How the Department of African American and African Studies is Changing

University Hall on Ohio State’s campus where the Department of African American and African Studies is located. || Credit: https://u.osu.edu/explorecolumbus/featured-columbus-sites/osu-sites/university-hall/

The Department of African American and African Studies is in the process of hiring 10 new faculty members as part of overall efforts towards expansion of Black culture. 

The department received a financial grant from the Mellon Foundation, allowing them to hire on new faculty – two of whom being assistant professors Elea Proctor and Casidy Campbell. 

Coming into her position earlier this semester, Proctor said African American and African studies have always been a topic of interest, and through her teachings at the University, she hopes to extend that feeling to others, regardless of their prerequisites. 

“It is expected that you walk into the class with just the willingness to learn, and nobody will ever make you feel bad for not having learned this stuff before, and in fact, that’s kind of what we’re trying to rectify in our teaching,” Proctor said.

In fact, the lack of such courses available during her own time at the collegiate level is something Proctor said motivates her to teach these topics. 

Elea Proctor. || Courtesy of: Elea Proctor. 

“I think I’m the first in my class to always say I never learned about any of this stuff in high school or college. I had to learn about it in grad school and teach it to myself,” Proctor recalled. “I wish that I had the opportunity to take a class like this, because it’s crazy that we don’t learn about this.”

However, while a lack of Black studies at universities is a common experience for many, Campbell said she found it to be the complete opposite – with her mentioning several opportunities at her college to dive deeper into the culture. 

“That training [in African American and African Studies] carries me through key businesses here,” Campbell said. “I still look back at old syllabi or remember readings, and I’m in contact with a lot of my mentors from undergrad.”

“That’s not foreign to me at all,” Campbell added. “It actually shaped the trajectory of my life. I’m grateful that I get to continue the work that they’re doing and the impact that they had on me.”

Even with their opposite backgrounds, not only between themselves, but the other professors within the department, Campbell said the faculty as a whole has come together in a meaningful way over the course of the semester. 

Casidy Campbell || Credit: Ky Smiley 

“We all share similar research interests, which I would hope since we’re all in African American studies,” Campbell laughed. 

“But, we also think very similarly and we are trying to bring new life into the department. I think it’s been great that we all have the same kind of goal, not just in the department, but also in our research,” Campbell said. “We get to kind of support each other and help each other navigate the tenure track, and navigate adjusting to a new institution.”

Alongside the induction of new professors, the department will also be re-introducing their graduate program, said Proctor. 

“The goal of the department is to create the best Black studies program in the country,” Proctor noted. “So, what it looks like is recruiting. We just opened up our graduate program again that was on hiatus for a few years, and so we let in a new cohort this year and we’re going to continue to do so and grow the program.”

And grow the program they will. 

Moving forward the department and its professors plan to finish hiring their 10 additional members, while also focusing on new curriculums and the aforementioned graduate program. Campbell has also taken the progression into her own hands by starting a new student and faculty series called “Hot Topics” which discusses topics that prove relevant to the Black community and beyond.

“Hopefully the seeds that all of our new folks, including myself, are planting now will bear fruit and flower in the next few years,” Proctor started with a sense of hope.

“It’s really unprecedented to hire so many new people at once,” she added. “I have never seen it done, and so who knows. We can’t really anticipate the effects of that, but I think that it will be remarkable and really transform African American studies on campus.”

Casidy Campbell. || Credit: Ky Smiley